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Drug Companies

THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUG COMPANIES. Marcia Angell. 2004. Read by Kate Reading. 6 cds. No time listed. Books on Tape. 1-4159-0455-3. $99.00. Vinyl; content notes. SA

Physician Angell, former editor of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine and on the staff at Harvard Medical School, shows that virtually every claim made by pharmaceutical companies to justify their profits and the sky-high prices of prescription drugs is false. With the information and authority available only to insiders, she first shows how the big pharmaceutical companies have profit margins much higher than any other business. She then shows how nearly all promising new drugs are developed in universities and small drug companies, using taxpayer funds from the NIH (National Institutes of Health). Nearly all research done by the big pharmaceutical companies is done to develop what she calls "me too" drugs. These are new drugs to treat conditions that are already being treated by a drug that is about to go off patent. The new drugs are then heavily promoted to doctors by the pharmaceutical industries' large marketing and "education" divisions, and patients are switched to the new drugs.

What is really scary is that there is absolutely no evidence that the new drugs are any more effective or any safer than the older drugs. They are simply more profitable for the drug company since they can be priced higher. In fact, by definition, they are less safe, since a drug that has not been around for a long time is more likely to have side effects, even life-threatening ones, than one that has been in use for a longer time. There are armies of lawyers protecting the drug companies' every profit. Lobbyists have a stranglehold on Congress, resulting in travesties like the Medicare prescription drug coverage that prevents Medicare from bargaining with the drug companies on prices. At the same time, research into precious life-saving medications that actually cure diseases (e.g., vaccines and antibiotics) languishes. The pharmaceutical industry wants to produce drugs that treat or control a chronic condition like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or depression, so that the person has to take the drug for the rest of their lives and the profits roll in. Reading offers a clear reading of this important book that belongs in every library. Susan Offner, Teacher, Lexington H.S., Lexington, MA

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.

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